The following background description constitutes a description of the background to the present invention, and thus need not necessarily constitute prior art.
Vehicles have a performance that is limited in one or several ways for one or several reasons. One limitation may consist of an available performance for hardware in the vehicle, such as for example a power, which an engine in the vehicle may provide. A hardware limitation of performance may often be motivated by cost reasons, since for example an engine providing a higher power is more expensive to purchase, and/or operate, than an engine providing a lower power. It may also be necessary to introduce a hardware limitation of performance in order to comply with applicable laws and/or regulations, such as for example threshold values for permitted exhaust emissions, where exhaust treatment systems, the component parts of which purify exhausts, on the one hand, and reduce the vehicle's performance, on the other hand, are used.
A performance limitation may also consist of a software limitation of performance. Here, for example, the engine power may be limited, the injection may be controlled, and/or the exhaust purification may be controlled in order to produce, for example, a lower fuel consumption or lower exhaust emissions. Accordingly, software limitations may also be made for example for cost reasons, and/or in order to comply with applicable laws and/or regulations.